vandevoort

Giving power and responsibility to adolescents

Last night, I hosted a book group who read Robert Epstein's The Case Against Adolescence.  I came across this book in the spring when it came out and wanted to get together with other English teachers to talk about his ideas.

It is a long book and I'm sure my summary will not do it justice, but here goes ... Epstein argues that adolescence as a time of angst and turmoil is a construct which is particular to western, post-industrial cultures.  In other cultures and in our history, adolescents were not treated as children, but given a multitude of responsibility for themselves and their families.  Epstein cites several research studies to show that adolescents have the cognitive, physical, and emotional capabilities of adults.  As a culture, we infantilize them and it is as a result of this infatilization that adolescents are angry, depressed, and rebellious.  He gives many examples, but to me the most interesting and telling is that when a young woman under the age of 18 has a baby, she is responsible for making medical decisions for the baby, but because she is under 18 cannot legally make medical decisions for herself.

I was reading this book in the last few months of the school year and I was reconsidering my relationships with my students.  I sent out a few e-mails seeing if anyone else was interested in reading the book and discussing it with me.  I met with four other ELA teachers last night to discuss the book.

There was some criticism for his ideas, especially those which advocate for a series of competency tests which teens could take to earn the right to marry, drive, drink, etc.  This seems to be quite a big shift in our culture.  Despite this and other criticism, we had a good time talking about what happens when we treat our adolescent students more like adults - giving them choices and giving them responsibilities.  We discussed practical ways to do this in the classroom.  Some of the ideas that came forward were that students should be in charge of the bulletin boards, certain paperwork, and keeping the room clean.  We shared examples of students who had been having negative experiences in the classroom begin to turn their performance around when they were given meaningful responsibility to the classroom community and curriculum.

I shared with the group some of the work that I've done with self-assessment, teaching students to be more reflective about their learning.  I've gone as far recently to give students the responsibility for grading themselves, explaining why they deserve this grade, and defending that grade to me and a small group of their peers.  I maintain a veto power, but rarely use it.  When given that responsibility, students shine.  They set goals for their learning and begin to take a stake in their learning.  This, along with incorporating choice into the curriculum, is one of the themes I hope to explore in my doctoral work.

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August 29, 2007 in Theory | Permalink

I completely agree with the statement that we infantilize adolescents. I remember being a senior in high school and living in frustration every day because I was being told when to eat and when to pee. I thought, "Cleopatra was my age when she took the throne for cryin' out loud!" When you mentioned the pregnant girl under 18 who was unable to make her own medical descisions I recalled how 100 years ago it was typical for a girl to have more than one child by the age of 18, and to be running a household besides. It really serves to confirm how important it is to have respect for our students' maturity.

Posted by: Heidi | October 23, 2007 at 11:06 PM

I wish I could quit you!

In one of those weird, fortuitous reading coincidences, I read the following articles back to back:

On MSNBC.com, Why Quitting is Good For You, and on NYTIMES.com, Please Cast Ryan Gosling as Me.

They got me thinking: When do we (teachers) quit?  This question has two meanings: (1) When do we quit the profession, and (2) When do we "quit" students?

I remember as I was finishing up my teacher preparation program, one of the instructors said, "When you're done, you'll know it.  Don't stay just to stay."  I think her point was that when you are "done" with teaching (i.e., you are burned out), you are not doing anyone any favors by staying.  You are making matters worse for yourself, your students, and your colleagues.

As I am on leave from classroom teacher to pursue my Ph.D. in English Education full-time, I wonder if I "quit" teaching.  I certainly wasn't done with the profession (although schools and school systems is another story), but I felt that I needed an intellectual challenge that classroom teaching just wasn't providing.  I'm much happier and fulfilled being a student again and my work has me thinking about classroom practice regularly and I will be doing my research in classrooms.  But, did I quit?

This is related to the second meaning of the question: When do we make the decision that we've done all we can with a particular student and the situation is out of our hands?  I remember the last time I was challenged by this several years ago.  I had an advisee who was a genuinely nice kid.  He started off the year strong and unafraid of asking for help (thank goodness, as he was grade levels behind).  A teenage boy openly asking for the teacher's help on something academic was not common in many of the classrooms I taught it, so I was thrilled he was so gung-ho. 

That stopped though when his chronic absentee problem came back to life.  When I called home to his mother, she seemed concerned but resigned to the fact that she had no control over him.  I remember one exchange where she said that he was bigger than her and she couldn't make him do anything.  I replied, "Well, he's not bigger than me.  I can come over if you want."  She didn't take that well and it was clear that she was using his size advantage as an excuse.  I don't think she cared. 

That didn't stop me.  I went to the guidance counselor who called his probation officer (oh ... didn't know about that) and I was filled in on the long-standing problems that had been plaguing this student.  It was clear quickly that his problems were bigger than me.  But, I still didn't give up (plucky, ain't I?), but to no avail.  Several months later, I did give up.  The problem was so much bigger than me.  Every time he did show up I showed him I was happy that he was there and I was ready to help him.  The next day (or, frankly, on several occasions later that morning) he was missing again.  Everyone - the principal, AP, guidance counselor, ACS, parole officer, mother, brother, aunt, uncle - had been informed, yet somehow he never got better.

It was a sad situation, for sure, and the decision to "quit" him was difficult.  I don't like to say "quit" because I never stop believing that a student can do it, but sometimes we just have to prioritize.

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September 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (7)

In response to what Desiree said, maybe we should try not to be so heart broken about the students we have to "quit." I agree that it must be so hard to have to deal with the discipline problems every day. Some students just don't want to be students. Maybe we should respect that decision and tell ourselves that just because education was our road to enlightenment, doesn't make it true for everyone.

Posted by: Heidi | October 23, 2007 at 10:38 PM

http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/09/26/make-a-difference/

Make a difference September 26th, 2007 7:59 am

I started my day reading a post from Erica, a fifth grader.

why there is too much violence in the world. There are bad people in the world. Why the bad people do bad things to the world?  Why do people have to fight?

Tough question but one that merits answers. Here's mine:

Erica,

You ask questions that are very hard to answer but I want you to know that I ask the same questions myself. It is so hard to understand why there is so much violence in the world. One thing I want you to know is that each day millions of children go to school and go to bed and their lives are full of happy and good things. All the good things that go on in the world go on without making headlines in the news. I wish we would hear more about those good things that are happening. These bad things do happen though. That's why we have police, jails and laws to protect us from these bad people. I do wish that we could find ways to solve differences by other means than fighting (like in wars).  One thing we can do is always stand up for what is right when we see bad things happen. I think if we try to help others and know that one person can make a difference.  You are doing that now by asking these questions.You are making us think. I also like the way you signed your post with love. We need more love in the world! We will all work together to make a difference!

Love,

Mrs. Davis

I'm reminded once again about the importance of commenting. Hmmm, I'm going to double my efforts there, especially with our students. We can make a difference.....

Heidi Van De Voort October 2nd, 2007 10:55 pm

As a future educator myself, this comment reminded me of what an import role we have as teachers to set that example for what "good things" are. Being able to some how inspire and comfort children who come to us from an environment full of "bad things" is such a powerful motivator.